Street Art

"Esto no es un make-up" (This is not a Make Up) by Elian Chali

Elian Chali recently took part in the Trama Festival in Buenos Aires, Argentina, painting a mural titled "Esto no es un make-up" (This is not a Make Up) on the facade of an iron factory next to a garbage dump.

Using vibrant colors and strict shapes, the Argentian artists often clashes his abstract work against the surrounding he is working in. In this particular case he painted a colorful 14x7 meters mural in the unpopular area, respecting the background he was working on. Taking the brick wall, metal parts and existing graffiti into account, he wanted to leave those elements and textures as indicators of building's "life" and history. Following the flow of the traffic in the area, the direction of his composition was greatly influenced by the contour of the building he was using as canvas. Juxtaposing clean shapes and solid, bright colors against the neglected surrounding, Elian performed a makeover of the building but without trying to use it as make up for the area. —Sasha Bogojev